Oh, I sure do have pets! Grumpy Puck is our a 19 year old cat. I’m sure you can figure out why she’s grumpy. Then there’s Scatter-Cat who is into everything, and Ajax, who is scared of his own shadow. Literally! I featured them in my book trailer for IN BED WITH A SPY. Because if you have a bunch of cats running around, why not use them for a trailer?

5. When I wake up every morning I… Stagger to the coffee pot. See #2.

​6. Weirdest​ or unique thing you own.

Oh, this item is very, very dear to my heart. I have the pictures that hung above my grandparent’s bed for 60 years. One is a piece of music titled with his name, the other hers. They hang side by side in my home office now, in their original frames with the original construction paper mattes. They are a reminder when I write a romance that I’m writing about the good and the bad in a relationship, the laughter and the tears. You can’t get through 60 years without both, and I hope my readers leave my books believing that whatever life throws at my characters, they will overcome it. Together. Because my grandparents sure did.

​7. Do you have ​any hobbies or particular skills?

I play the piano (badly), knit (yet more badly), and embarrass my son (very well). That scarf is one of the very first things I knitted—I keep it for when I lose my “good” winter scarves and need a standby.

8. What do you hope readers will experience or gain when reading your stories?

Two things. First, I hope that they have the “ahhhhh….” moment. Second, I *try* to write relationships that involve strong women, and men who are not afraid of that strength. Also, strength doesn’t always mean kicking in a door—sometimes true strength is just being patient when you need to be.

Meet Alyssa Alexander

Despite being a native Michigander, Alyssa Alexander is pretty certain she belongs somewhere sunny. And tropical. Where drinks are served with little paper umbrellas. But until she moves to those white sandy beaches, she survives the cold Michigan winters by penning romance novels that always include a bit of adventure. She lives with her own set of heroes, aka an ever-patient husband who doesn’t mind using a laundry basket for a closet, and a small boy who wears a knight in a shining armor costume for such tasks as scrubbing potatoes.

Jones, born in the rookeries, was saved as a young boy and trained to be an elite spy. He serves His Majesty in espionage, hunting rogue spies.

Cat Ashdown is a baroness. She knows every detail of every estate that commands the largest income in Britain—yet her father placed her inheritance in trust to her uncle who is forcing her to marry against her will.

The baroness’s battle against law and convention leads her to Jones and results that are surprising … and possibly unwanted.

Oh, thank you! I know they didn’t write the music, and both appear to be from musicals/movies of the 40’s or 50’s. I just love that they each had a song with their names–even more fun, looks like they kept birth certificates behind the frames! There’s a note on one of them that says to check the other for birth certificates. How fun is that?

Great questions! Sometimes they pop into my head simply because that is the character’s name. I can’t possibly change it. Maximilian Westwood in A DANCE WITH SEDUCTION, for example. He could not possibly have another name, and don’t ever, EVER, call him Max. He hates it. 🙂

Other times, I “try one on”, so to speak, and if it’s not working, I’ll start looking at baby names books/websites and check the meanings of the names until I find one that fits.

I’ve always had odd creative drives. Embroidery, knitting, coloring. I chose knitting because we were doing a lot of driving for awhile, and I had a hankering to make my own scarfs and dishcloths. That was the extent of my knitting, because I could never get beyond the most basic knit/purl design! As I said–I knit badly.

Hi Debra! Thanks for stopping by. As for wanting to be a writer, I can pinpoint it to Young Author’s Night in my elementary school. After writing a very, ah, interesting story about 7 sets of twins (that poor mother!), I was hooked. It took many more years before I could make my dream a reality!

Hi Shannon! I learned to love writing during Young Author’s night in elementary school. Never looked back! As for why this genre, I’ve always loved history, so when I started writing it was just a natural fit for me.

Thank you so much! I have to say, I love all my covers. As for how much say, I’ve usually been lucky and have been able to make suggestions on what I would like to see. Then the publisher takes it from there!

I’ve written four books in the Spy in the Ton series. They all stand alone, so you do not need to read them in order. Though I think it is probably more fun to follow along that way, as the characters pop back up from time to time!